Sunday, 17 February 2013

Trunk Diner

“Where’s the fire?” My sister
asked me as we walked up to Trunk
Diner. Turns out the very smoky smoke wasn’t coming from any fire
source; or rather, no fire that wasn’t cooking delicious smelling burgers and
bacon within the diner itself.

Nestled
in a sunlight-dappled garden full of rustling leaves, Trunk is a green oasis in
the CBD. Need a quick lunch with a work friend? Trunk Diner will supply you
with that burger, salad, or midday coffee you need. Hoping to seal that
business deal? Ply your business partner with wine in the garden, courtesy of
Trunk the elder – Trunk Restaurant.

The Prettier Sister

Since
my last visit, Trunk Diner has gone from carport with clear plastic
sheets for walls, to a bright diner with lots of windows opening out into the
garden. But the menu hasn’t changed much, and I mean that in the best way
possible. The page-long menu is still stuffed with what most would consider to
be quintessential diner options (burgers, hot dogs, milk shakes), with a touch
of the gourmet (quesadillas, Cuban sandwiches), and something for the healthier
ones (salads, a lack of fun).

But
we were here for one thing only – the Trunk
Burger ($10). Now this burger has a fun build-your-own quality to it.
You start with 175 grams of wagyu patty and salad on the side – already a mean
burger, given the juicy, medium-rare patty was second only to a good steak –
then add what you will to it. In our case we just went for the no-brainer
additions of Cheddar ($1.5)
and Crispy Bacon ($2).

I
then made my sister put some obligatory vegetables into it, and you have
yourself all the good stuff in life between two soft buns. I loved how you
could really taste the cheese melting into all the crevices of the beef, and the
smokiness of the bacon. The burger may look fairly demure but it’s actually
very masculine and surprisingly dense of a meal. I will admit that it is a bit
out of balance, as the salad was by no means enough to counteract the thick
patty, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We also ordered a Small Chips ($3) on the side,
which we could only barely finish off.

And
that irregular chomping was the work of my sister, I swear, for real this time.

Golden Gaytime Milkshake ($8)

What’s
a burger without a milkshake? And the Golden
Gaytime Milkshake ($8) had to be ordered. We slurped up this concoction
of honeycomb and toffee and caramel and vanilla ice cream up in no time.

I
had unwittingly eaten an entire banh mi (that’s a Vietnamese baguette, for all
your poor souls who have never had one) just two hours earlier, so I wanted
something a tad lighter than a hunk of beef between bread. And as much as I
love their portobello mushroom quesadilla, it was time to try something
different – the Shredded Chicken,
Cheddar, Roast Red Peppers, Tomato, Coriander, Spring Onion and Jalapeno Salsa
Quesadilla ($10). I couldn’t really taste the promised myriad of
vegetables but what I could taste was a politely cheesy and chicken mixture
between the soft bread. It was by no means boring though, and I got extra kicks
from the Jalapenos ($1.5) I
ordered on the side.

I
hate conclusions so I’m not going to write one. It’s almost 1am and I’ve been
working way too much this week.